Three American personnel – two army soldiers and a civilian interpreter – have been killed in an ambush in central Syria by a suspected Islamic State gunman, the Pentagon has said. The attack, which took place on Saturday in Palmyra, is the first to inflict US casualties since the fall of the former Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, a year ago.
Donald Trump, speaking before attending the army-navy football game in Baltimore, said: “We mourn the loss of three great patriots in Syria. We also have three wounded. They seem to be doing pretty well.” He added: “This was an Isis attack on us and Syria. We will retaliate.”
The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said the troops were conducting a key leader engagement in support of ongoing counter-Isis operations. The gunman was killed by partner forces, according to US defence secretary Pete Hegseth. The identities of the dead are being withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
Syria’s state news agency reported that two members of the country’s security force and several US service members were wounded in the attack. The injured were flown by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan. Syria’s interior ministry said the gunman opened fire at the gate of a military post and that authorities were investigating whether he was an Isis member or simply inspired by the group’s ideology.
The US maintains hundreds of troops in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting Islamic State, which was defeated in 2019 but retains sleeper cells and an estimated 5,000–7,000 fighters across Syria and Iraq. Last month Syria joined the international coalition as diplomatic ties with Washington have warmed since Assad’s overthrow. In 2019, a blast in Manbij killed two US service members, two American civilians and others during a patrol.
